History Memes

Explanation: Only a single incident that I can find, but the Soviets once had paratroops jump off of planes into deep snowdrifts. Without parachutes.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Inside_the_Blue_Berets/AHHfAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq="without parachutes"

“By 12 March, when the 204th Airborne Brigade began to cross into German territory, it came under intense small-arms fire, punctuated by artillery. The German actions inflicted heavier and heavier casualties as the missions continued over the next few nights. The Germans also noted the flight of Soviet transport aircraft into areas behind their own lines, evidently dropping supplies to the advancing airborne groups. Some troops without parachutes were also dropped during the course of the operations. Slow-flying U-2 biplanes would skim close to the ground, and the paratroopers would leap off into deep snowdrifts. The first major attack occurred on 15 March when the garrison at Maloye Opuevo was overrun by about twelve hundred paratroopers from the 1st and 204th Airborne Brigades.”